# Health and Social Care (Safety and Quality) Act 2015, Paragraph 2


(1) The Opticians Act 1989 is amended as follows.
(2) In section 1 (constitution and functions of the General Optical Council), for subsection (2A) substitute—
“(2A) The over-arching objective of the Council in exercising their functions is the protection of the public.
(2B) The pursuit by the Council of their over-arching objective involves the pursuit of the following objectives—
(a) to protect, promote and maintain the health, safety and well-being of the public;
(b) to promote and maintain public confidence in the professions regulated under this Act;
(c) to promote and maintain proper professional standards and conduct for members of those professions; and
(d) to promote and maintain proper standards and conduct for business registrants.”
(3) In section 5A (Registration Appeals Committee), at the end insert—
“(5) In exercising a function under section 13K, the Registration Appeals Committee must have regard to the over-arching objective.”
(4) In section 5C (Fitness to Practise Committee), at the end insert—
“(5) In exercising a function under section 13F or 13H, the Fitness to Practise Committee must have regard to the over-arching objective.”
(5) In section 13D (allegations), after subsection (7) insert—
“(7A) In deciding whether to give a warning under subsection (7), the Investigation Committee must have regard to the over-arching objective.”
(6) In section 36 (interpretation), at the end insert—
“(3) References in this Act to the over-arching objective are to the over-arching objective of the Council under section 1(2A) (read with section 1(2B)).”

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/28/schedule/paragraph/2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/health-and-social-care-safety-and-quality-act-2015/schedule/paragraph-2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.